Part 1 Amazing Improvements What kind of a future are we in for? So-So? Scary? Great? Superfantastic? Phil and Stephen talk with John Palmer about what recent trends tell us about what kind of future […]

Universal Basic Happiness, Part 3 (Plus geekout Avengers review!) VR puts us in the digital world, where scarcity doesn’t exist. It is one way of getting to post-scarcity and will probably play an important role […]

Universal Basic Happiness, Part 2 As we continue our discussion of possible solutions to various inequalities, Phil outlines one possible way e could make everybody — that’s EVERYBODY — completely happy. Wireheading: This Strange Experiment from […]

Universal Basic Happiness, Part 1 Last Weekend, Robin Hanson stirred things up by inquiring why the people concerned about income inequality aren’t worried about other forms of inequality: Those w/ less access to sex plausibly […]

How much is that smartphone really worth? Phil and Stephen discuss multiple analyses. Everything from 1991 Radio Shack ad I now do with my phone The back page of the front section on Saturday, February […]

Phil and Stephen conclude their discussion of unexpected and often unnoticed positive change, looking at recent encouraging developments related to the environment, energy, and food production. The starting point for this series is a recent […]

I’m reading K. Eric Drexler’s new book Radical Abundance, which explores the impact of atomically precise manufacturing (APM). Drexler predicts that APM will be with us soon and that it will transform the global economy […]